The Ice Age Ends As Rampage KO's Liddell

Chuck Liddell came in with a 1st round KO prediction, and the KO came true. Its just that it was Chuck that had his lights turned out, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson shocked the world to become the new Light Heavyweight Champion! As the two men felt each other out, Chuck continued to move away as Rampage sought to cut the octagon off with some good footwork. Chuck lunged in a few times and caught a stiff jab that he definitely felt. Then Rampage proceeded to motion Chuck in, almost daring him to fight. Chuck came in with an awkward body shot to Quinton, leaving himself wide open for the looping right hand that dropped the former champ to the canvas. Jackson lept upon Chuck dropping a devastating elbow that sealed the deal, and followed it up with two unanswered punches. The ref stepped in and a new Champion was crowned. Liddell complained initially that he was fine and the stoppage was premature, but the replay clearly showed Chuck dazed and unable to defend himself. Quinton Jackson was mobbed by his team and celebrated the biggest victory of his career.

My prediction of a huge announcement came true (and that was about the only prediction I got right) as Dan "Hollywood" Henderson stepped into the octagon, and was declared the next opponent for the new Champion Quinton Jackson. Though it was not mentioned as a title unification match, Henderson has the Pride Light Heavyweight title, and even if he lost, would still retain his Pride Middleweight title. Still, the possibility of a true undisputed Light Heavyweight Champion looms in the distance.

Karo "The Heat" Parisyan brought the heat, dominating all three rounds of his fight with Josh Burkman. Karo got the crowd pleasing judo throws 3 times and his much improved stand up punching. Josh seemed to run out of gas early, while Karo kept up the pace and just walked through the talented Burkman. After the fight, Karo mentioned he wanted his title shot that he once had, and only lost due to an injury. This big win takes him closer, but I still believe a couple more fights may have to come first.

Houston Alexander KO'd an overly confident and sloppy Keith Jardine in one of the most brutal and vicious scenes in a long time. Jardine came out in an odd stance with his hands high and open. He staggered Houston for a moment and went in for the kill, only to catch a vicious series of uppercuts that dropped Jardine. Back to his feet Keith met a barrage of punches that dropped him again! Showing his heart, Jardine got up again, and though the fight maybe should've been stopped there since Keith did not look like he knew where the hell he was, Alexander finished him off with a mega-power punch and a knee that shot his mouth piece across the ring, and Keith's face crashed to the canvas completely unconscious. Brilliant debut for Alexander, and one has to question Keith's game plan to stand and not utilize his great leg kicks and distance punching.

Terry Martin did it again, KOing the veteran Ivan Salaverry. The men clinched up and Terry lifted Ivan into the air and slammed him hard on his neck/head. Two unanswered punches led the ref to stop the fight, which did look a bit premature, but Ivan did not complain and the look on his face seemed like he knew he had lost. Martin's punching power cannot be denied at 185 and he called out Anderson Silva, and challenged him to stand with him in a fight.

Din Thomas secured a tight armbar on the very game debuting Jeremy Stephens. Din dominated the 1st round, but Jeremy seemed to have new life in the 2nd, until he got caught in said armbar, and the ref halted the action though he did not tap. Jeremy complained about the lack of a tap, but he wasn't going anywhere and it would've only resulted in a broken arm. Din Thomas then dared any boxers to step into MMA and fight him saying, "I'm the mutherfucker to fight!"

Kalib Starnes eked out a decision win over Chris Leben. The fight was sooo close that either man could've won. Though a semi-slow pace, Starnes seemed to gas early, but somewhat recovered in the 3rd. Leben just seemed off and couldn't connect with his punches as Starnes was surprisingly more accurate on the feet. I wouldn't want to judge that fight and even Kalib said he thought Leben won.

Thiago Silva got the win in his debut but only because James Irvin blew out his knee in a very hard to watch fashion. The Chute Boxe upcoming star goes to 10-0 while Irvin goes to rehab.

Alan Belcher got the submission win over the fast becoming punchline Sean Salmon. Salmon came right into Alan's arms, getting caught quickly, and then pulled guard allowing Alan to cinch the hole in even tighter. Sean has to do something about this glaring mistakes he has made in these last two fights, and readjust his game. Alan goes to 2-2 in the UFC and doesn't lose ground, but don't expect a big fight for him any time soon.

Finally, Wilson Gouveia baffled Carmen Marello with brutal leg kicks which led to an easy guillotine submission. We went a miserable 4-5 on our picks and are determined to right the ship.

Interesting PPV to say the least, as the "Year Of The Upset" continues now hitting Liddell and Jardine. Congratulations to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and next up is K-1's Dynamite show which has already lost the main event and is falling apart at the seems.